Tooth brusher

ABSTRACT

A safe brushing is realized without sticking the gum if the bristle tips are once inserted in a pocket of a tooth by using a system having a brush of which the bristle tips automatically vibrate in a direction at right angles with the direction of length of the bristles. A brush lever  5  having a brush  4  is swingingly supported in the nozzle  1 , a flow passage  3  leading to a blow-out port  1   a  at an end of a nozzle  1  is partly bent, and a resilient member  7  is provided at the bent portion to urge the brush lever  5  in a direction opposite to the direction of flow of water, so that the brush lever  5  oscillates reciprocally due to the resilient force produced by the resilient member  7  and the pressure of water flow, causing the bristle tips of the brush  4  to oscillate in a direction at right angles with the direction of length of the bristles outside the nozzle  1.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a tooth-brushing device suitedfor the prevention and therapy of pyorrhea alveolaris and decayed teethby conducting the brushing using a brush protruded beyond a nozzle whileblowing out water from a blow-out port of the nozzle.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] It has been widely known that sordes on teeth are difficultlyremoved from such portions as gum grooves among the teeth and pocketsdeep in the gum grooves. In order to remove sordes on teeth, in general,attempts have been made to conduct the brushing by so contriving theshape of bristle tips of a tooth brush that the bristles can be easilyinserted in the gum grooves. With this method, however, a perseveringmanual work must be conducted for every portion requiring a brushingtime of not less than one hour, and a person finds himself tired on hisarm consuming too much time and finds it not easy to continue the workany longer.

[0003] To solve this problem, Japanese Patent No. 2663213 teaches atooth-brushing device in which a cylindrical portion of a large diameteris formed in a water passage near the end of a water-injection nozzle,means is provided for reciprocally driving a piston body held in thecylindrical portion, whereby the end of a bundle of stiff bristles heldon the front surface of the piston body is caused to reciprocally movein the direction of length of the bristles to go in and out of theblow-out port at the end of the nozzle.

[0004] With the system in which the end of the bundle of stiff bristlesgoes in and out of the blow-out port at the end of the nozzle in thedirection of length of the bundle of stiff bristles, however, the movingdistance of the bristle tips varies in the direction of length of thebristles. Therefore, it becomes highly probable that the bristle tipsare stuck to the inflamed gum causing a severe pain not only when thepatient brushes his teeth by himself but also when the patient has histeeth brushed by an expert such as a dentist.

[0005] It is therefore a first object of the present invention torealize a safe brushing without sticking the gum if the bristle tips areonce inserted in a pocket of a tooth by using a system having a brush ofwhich the bristle tips automatically vibrate in a direction at rightangles with the direction of length of the bristles due to the flow ofwater.

[0006] A second object is to efficiently wash, out of the pocket, thesordes and foul matter peeled off the tooth surfaces due to the brushingby concentrating the water flow blown out from the nozzle onto thebristle tips of the brush.

[0007] A third object is to realize a safe brushing without sticking thegum if the bristle tips are once inserted in a pocket of a tooth byusing a system having a brush that automatically revolves due to theflow of water.

[0008] A fourth object is to realize a safe brushing without stickingthe gum if the bristle tips are once inserted in a pocket of a tooth byusing a system having a brush of which the bristle tips automaticallyvibrate in a direction at right angles with the direction of length ofthe bristles due to the flow of water, the system having a simplifiedinternal structure.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The invention described in claim 1 is to accomplish the abovefirst object, and is concerned with a tooth-brushing device forconducting the brushing with a brush protruded beyond a nozzle whileblowing out water from a blow-out port of the nozzle, wherein a brushlever having the brush is swingingly supported in the nozzle, a flowpassage leading to the blow-out port is partly bent, a resilient memberis provided at the bent portion to urge the brush lever in a directionopposite to the direction of flow of water, so that the brush leveroscillates reciprocally due to the resilient force produced by theresilient member and the pressure of water flow. Thus, the bristle tipsof the brush automatically oscillate in a direction at right angles withthe direction of length of the bristles due to the flow of water.Therefore, if the bristle tips are once inserted in the pocket of thetooth, then, the brushing is safely conducted without sticking the gum.

[0010] In the invention described in claim 2, water blown out from theblow-out port is directed to the end of the brush in addition to theconstitution of the invention of claim 1. Thus, water blown out from theblow-out port is directed to the end of the brush making it possible toconcentrate the water flow blown out from the nozzle onto the bristletips of the brush and, hence, to efficiently wash, out of the pocket,the sordes and foul matter peeled off the tooth surface by brushing.

[0011] The invention described in claim 3 is to accomplish the thirdobject, and is concerned with a tooth-brushing device for conducting thebrushing with a brush protruded beyond a nozzle while blowing out wat rfrom a blow-out port of the nozzle, wherein a brush rotary shaft havingthe brush is rotatably supported by bearings being deviated from acenter axis of the nozzle, and a water-wheel is secured to the brushrotary shaftso as to be rotated by the pressure of water flow.Therefore, if the bristle tips are once inserted in the pocket of thetooth, then, the brushing is safely conducted without sticking the gum.The invention described in claim 4 is to accomplish the fourth object,and is concerned with a tooth-brushing device for conducting thebrushing with a brush protruded beyond a nozzle while blowing out waterfrom a blow-out port of the nozzle, wherein a flow passage leading tothe blow-out port is bent, a brush lever provided with the brush at anend thereof is bent along the flow passage and is arranged in the flowpassage so as to oscillate in a direction at right angles with thedirection of length of bristles of the brush, a piston is provided atthe other end of the brush lever, and a resilient member is provided tourge the piston in a direction opposite to the direction of water flow,so that the brush lever oscillates reciprocally due to the resilientforce produced by the resilient member and the pressure of water flow.Thus, the bristle tips of the brush automatically oscillate in adirection at right angles with the direction of length of the bristlesdue to the flow of water. Therefore, if the bristle tips are onceinserted in the pocket of the tooth, then, the brushing is safelyconducted without sticking the gum. Further, the internal structure issimplified since there is no need of holding the brush lever usingbearings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a first embodiment of theinvention;

[0013]FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a second embodiment of theinvention;

[0014]FIG. 3 is a front view of a nozzle;

[0015]FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating a third embodiment of theinvention;

[0016]FIG. 5 is a sectional view along the line A-A; and

[0017]FIG. 6 is a sectional view illustrating a fourth embodiment of theinvention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0018] Embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail withreference to the drawings.

[0019]FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of the invention, i.e., anembodiment of the invention of claim 1. A nozzle 1 is secured to an endof a main body 2 nearly at right angles therewith, and a flow passage 3leads to a blow-out port 1 a open at an end of the nozzle 1 while beingbent nearly at right angles as it goes to the blow-out port 1 a from themain body 2.

[0020] Inside the nozzle 1, a brush lever 5 holding a brush 4 at an endcore 5 a is rotatably supported at its middle portion by a pin 6. Thebrush 4 is partly protruding maintaining a sufficiently large gaprelative to the blow-out port 1 a. On the side opposite to the brush 4,a compression coil spring 7 is acting on the rear potion of the brushlever 5, the compression coil spring 7 being a resilient member with itsone end being secured to the inner wall surface of the nozzle 1. Therear portion of the brush lever 5 is urged in a direction against theflow of water from the main body 2 due to the compression coil spring 7.

[0021] According to the structure of FIG. 1, the brush lever 5 isusually pushed by the compression coil spring 7 onto the end 2 a of themain body 2. Upon receiving the pressure of water flowing from the sideof the main body 2, however, the brush lever 5 turns with the pin 6 as afulcrum up to a point where a balance is maintained between the pressureof water and the resilient pressure by the compression coil spring 7.Then, due to a change in the pressure of water flow, the brush lever 5is pushed back again by the compression coil spring 7. As this operationis repeated, the brush lever 5 reciprocally turns repetitively, and thebristle tips of the brush 4 oscillate in a direction at right angleswith the direction of length of bristles outside the nozzle 1 whilewater is blown out from the blow-out port 1 a.

[0022]FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention,i.e., an embodiment of the invention of claim 2. In this embodiment, theopening 1 a at the end of the nozzle 1 is not for blowing out the waterbut is simply for permitting the brush 4 to protrude in contrast withthe structure of FIG. 1. Instead, a plurality of blow-out ports 8 areformed to surround the opening 1 a. Water from the flow passage 3 flowsbeing branched into these blow-out ports 8 and is blown outsimultaneously being directed to the end of the brush 4.

[0023]FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a third embodiment of the invention,i.e., an embodiment of the invention of claim 3. This embodiment uses abrush rotary shaft 9 holding the brush 4 at an end core 9 a instead ofthe brush lever 5. A middle portion of the brush rotary shaft 9 issupported by a bearing 10 in the nozzle 1, and a rear end thereof issupported by a bearing in a recessed portion 11 in the wall in thenozzle, so that the brush rotary shaft 9 rotates being deviated by adistance L from the center axis of the flow passage 3 in the main body2. A water-wheel 12 is secured to the brush rotary shaft 9 so as toreceive the pressure of water flowing from the main body 2.

[0024] According to the structure shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, thewater-wheel 12 receives the pressure of water flowing through the flowpassage 3 in a deviated state. Therefore, the brush 4 rotates togetherwith the brush rotary shaft 9 while water is blown out from the blow-outport 1 a. In this case, the rotary motion can be converted intovibration of the bristle tips of the brush 4 in a direction at rightangles with the direction of length of the bristles accompanying therotation by using a motion converter mechanism that converts the rotarymotion into a reciprocal motion by using a link mechanism and aneccentric cam.

[0025]FIG. 6 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the invention, i.e., anembodiment of the invention of claim 4. In this embodiment, the nozzle 1itself is formed in an inverse L-shape to bend the flow passage 3 a inthe nozzle 1, and the brush lever 5 is bent along the flow passage 3 a.A pin 13 penetrates through a middle portion of the brush lever 5 atright angles, and guide grooves 14 are formed in the middle portion ofthe flow passage 3 a to guide the pin 13, so that the brush lever 5 isallowed to reciprocally oscillate in a direction at right angles withthe direction of length of bristles of the brush lever 5. Further, apiston 15 is provided at the rear end of the brush lever 5, and acompression coil spring 16 which is a resilient member is providedbetween the piston 15 and the base end 1 b of the nozzle 1.

[0026] According to the structure of FIG. 6, the brush lever 5 isusually pushed down by the compression coil spring 16. Upon receivingthe pressure of water flowing from the side of the main body 2, however,the piston 15 is pushed up to a point where a balance is maintainedbetween the pressure of water and the elastic pressure by thecompression coil spring 16. Then, when the pressure of water flowchanges, the piston 15 is pushed back again by the compression coilspring 16. As this operation is repeated, the brush lever 5 reciprocallyoscillates repetitively, and the bristle tips of the brush 4 oscillatein a direction at right angles with the direction of length of bristlesoutside the nozzle 1 while water is blown out from the blow-out port 1a.

Industrial Applicability

[0027] The invention is concerned with a tooth-brushing device such asan electric tooth brush for household and dental uses, for brushing theteeth while blowing out water.

1. A tooth-brushing device for conducting the brushing with a brushprotruded beyond a nozzle while blowing out water from a blow-out portof the nozzle, wherein a brush lever having the brush is swinginglysupported in the nozzle, a flow passage leading to the blow-out port ispartly bent, a resilient member is provided at the bent portion to urgethe brush lever in a direction opposite to the direction of flow ofwater, so that the brush lever oscillates reciprocally due to theresilient force produced by the resilient member and the pressure ofwater flow.
 2. A tooth-brushing device according to claim 1, whereinwater blown out from the blow-out port is directed to the end of thebrush.
 3. A tooth-brushing device for conducting the brushing with abrush protruded beyond a nozzle while blowing out water from a blow-outport of the nozzle, wherein a brush rotary shaft having the brush isrotatably supported by bearings being deviated from a center axis of thenozzle, and a water-wheel is secured to the brush rotary shaft so as tobe rotated by the pressure of water flow.
 4. A tooth-brushing device forconducting the brushing with a brush protruded beyond a nozzle whileblowing out water from a blow-out port of the nozzle, wherein a flowpassage leading to the blow-out port is bent, a brush lever providedwith the brush at an end thereof is bent along the flow passage and isarranged in the flow passage so as to oscillate in a direction at rightangles with the direction of length of bristles of the brush, a pistonis provided at the other end of the brush lever, and a resilient memberis provided to urge the piston in a direction opposite to the directionof water flow, so that the brush lever oscillates reciprocally due tothe resilient force produced by the resilient member and the pressure ofwater flow.